Apparatus for thickening slimes.



W. A. STEDMAN.

APPARATUS FOR THICKENING SLIMESA lA/l/EA/TOR i /[gem f2. ks'fedma n 2 SHEETS-SHEE12.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19. I915.

WITNESSES Mam %.6%44&/

A TTOR/VEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co, WASHINGTON, b. c.

WED warns rarnnr ormcn.

WILLIAM ARMOR STEDMAN, OF WONDER, NEVADA.

APPARATUS FOR THICKENING SLIIVIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

Application filed January 19, 1915. Serial N 0. 3,113.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W 'ILLIAM A. STEDMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of WVonder, in the county of Churchill and State-of Nevada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Thickening Slimes, of which the following isa specification. U

My invention relates to the treatment of ores, as by the cyanid process, for therecovcry of metals, and the main objectthereof is to provide an apparatus which will remove excess Water or solution from the slimes to thicken the same, after the slimes,

or finely ground ores, have been mixed with,

water or solution to formpulp.

1A further object is to provide such apparatus which is continuous in operation.

A further object is to provide means, in such apparatus, for insuring the formation of channels throughthe pulp for the water or solution as the density of the pulp increases; and further objects are to provide such apparatus which is very simple in construction and operation, requires no attention after having been adjusted, which is very inexpensive, and which may be used for purposes other than the recovery of metals from ores by the cyanid process.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accomipanying drawings form a part, inwhich like reference characters are used to designate like parts in each of the views, and in which v Figure 1 is a central, vertical, sectiontaken through my apparatusyFig 2 is a section taken on theline 22. of Fig. 1; Fig.

3 is a fragmentary section, similarto Fig. 1,

with the parts in the rear omitted-for simplification of understanding of the structure; Fig.4 is an enlarged, fragmentary,

transverse, section, as on the linen-40f Fig. 5; andFig. 51S a section taken on the line 55'of Fig. 1.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a present preferred form of embodiment of my invention,

comprising a tank 6 having a hopper-shaped bottom 7 leading to a discharge pipe 8 conupper edge thereof in turn provided with a discharge spout 11. 'Resting upon the top of the tank is a spider 12 and serving as a support for a centrally arranged, vertical, pipe 13 open at its lower end and having a funnel 14: at its upper end, and I prefer to terminate the lower end of said pipe in a plane at a material distance above that of the upper edge of the hopper-shaped bottom-7. Also resting upon the spider 12 are a plurality of frames, four in number in the form illustrated and designated 15, 16, 17, and 18, and the general arrangement of which is concentric with the cylindrical body of the tank, said frames being shown as hexagonal, but they may be of any desired conformation, and of any desired number. Depending from each of the said frames are a plurality of rods, 15, 16 17 and 18, arranged in substantially concentric series, the lower ends of the rods of each series being joined by thin plates 15*, 16 17 and 18 respectively, and serving as braces to maintain the saidlower ends of all the series in a substantially concentric formation, and I also provide transverse, stiffening, braces 15", 16, 17, and 18 for the lower ends of the respective frames; by reference to Figs. 1 and 3it will be noted that the lower ends of the respective series of rods are in a step-by-step arrangement, the inner series highest and the outer lowest. Itwill also be noted that the plates and braces at the lower ends ofthe series of bars are in verticalplanes in order to present as little obstructing surface as possible to the by erratic and inconstant channels, and the 100 thickening of the pulp requires a considerable length of time, but with my rods in the several series a relatively enormous smooth surface is provided over which direct and constant channels are formed by the rising water or solution this being the function of said rods, and no channels need be formed through the gradually thickening and resisting pulp. I

In practice, the valve 9 is first closed and the pulp is then admitted into the pipe 13, passing therethrough'to the bottom of the tank and gradually rising inthe tank until it passes the lower end of said pipe, at which time the .slimes begin to settle leavinm a layer. of. practically clear solution at the top of the mass. By the timethe tank is full: a considerable quantity of solution willhave collected on top of the pulp while the pulpat the bottomof the tank will have a density: greaterthan that of the incoming stream of pulp. This increase in the density'v of. the pulp at the bottom of the tank tends to force the solution upwardly because the ore particles, by virtue of their superior weight, tend to crowd more closely together as they approach the bottom of the tank, and, as the line of least resistanceis the surface's of the rods arranged ver' tically in the tank, channels or lines of movement of the solution are formed at said rods, and a comparatively rapid precipitation of the slimes results, thus thickening the pulp. When the tank is filled the lighter solution at the top thereof overflows into the trough 10 and passes thence to the spout 11, whence it may be led to any desired point; if the valve 9 be now opened,

the ore particles of greater weight flow from the tank, and, as long as the proper ratiobetween the amount of pulp admitted and the amount withdrawn throughthe valve 9 is maintained, the operation of the device is continuous. Furthermore, the channels around the vertical rods will persist and form an easy means or route of escape for the solution contained in the underlying portions of the pulp. Itis this action, the formation and maintenance of open channels along the vertical rods from the lower ends thereof to the upper surface of" the pulp, that accounts for increased efficiency ofmy apparatus over the ordinary typeof settling tanks. In this ordinary type, the

solution from the lower layers of pulp must find 1ts way upward as best it can against the descendingslimes, with a maximum of mutualinterference, whereas, by means ofmy rods, the solution'is directed along definite, straight, paths, thus allowing the slimcs to settle more freely and rapidly because of the practical absence of interference with the rising solution. fore, consists in the provision of means My invention, therewhereby such direct and constant paths for the rising solution are assured and, while I have shown rods for such purpose, I do not confine myself thereto, nor to the specific size or shape thereof, nor to the number thereof, nor to the material of which they are composed, nor tothe manner of holding them in place, but I do prefer to provide as great a surface as possible, or rather a multiplicity of surfaces in a multiplicity of positions, for leading the solution upwardly, providing the obstructing displacement thereof is at a minimum with respect to the tank capacity.

Having fully describedmy inventiomwhat Iclaim asnew, anddes'ire to secure byLetters Patent, is

l. A device of the class described,'comprising a tank, an inlet for matter in solution, vertically arranged-means for forming and maintaining paths forthe liquid. :of such solution upwardly through the solid: matter insaid solution precipitated by gravity, and an outlet forthe precipitate.

2. A device of the class described, com-. prising a tank, an inlet for matter in solution, vertically arranged means for forming and maintaining paths for the liquid of such solution upwardly through the. solid matter in said solution precipitated by gravity, and acontrollable'outlet forsaid precipitate.. V

3. A device of the class described, comprising a'tank, an inlet formatterin solution, vertically arranged means for forming and maintaining paths for the liquid of such solution upwardly through the solid matter in said solution precipitated by gravity, means for leadingoff said liquid, an outlet for said precipitate, and means for maintaining a desired relationship 7 of flow between the-inlet and outlet to renderoperation continuous. '4. A.- device of the class described, comprising a tank, an inlet pipe'extending to a-predetermined point therein, an outlet, pipe, a valve therefor, 'andfa plurality 'of' vertical elements held insai'd tank and ex:

thereof to beneath predetermined-point, an outlet pipe at the bottom of said tank, a Valve therefor, a In testimony whereof I have signed my plurality of series of a plurality of vertical name to this specification in the presence of elements each, held in said tank, substantwo subscribing Witnesses.

'tially concentric With said inlet pipe, and WILLIAM ARMOR STEDMAN. 5 extending beneath the same, and means for Witnesses:

maintaining said elements in desired rela- EDGAR JOHN LORTON,

'tionship. WILLIAM HENRY MANNING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). C. 

